The present invention is directed to a formulation for a fried egg product and process to prepare a premium formulated fried egg for consumption by an individual. It is anticipated that the formulated fried egg product will be refrigerated and/or frozen for future heating by microwave oven, convection oven or griddle for consumption as a stand-alone food item or as a portion of a composite food article. The formulated fried egg has a texture and other sensory perceptions similar to a naturally fried egg.
In the past, formulated fried eggs have been formed by the filling of a mold with a liquid egg mixture and then cooking the liquid egg mixture within the mold. Many problems have arisen through the implementation of this processing methodology, resulting in products that have the appearance and taste of commercial processing, products that are extremely dense and have poor viscosity, and products that generally exhibit undesirable sensory perceptions related to the appearance, taste and texture as compared to a freshly fried egg. Therefore, a need exists to eliminate the dense, commercial-processing appearance and taste associated with a formulated fried egg product cooked within a mold.
In the past, procedures have generally not been implemented to rigorously control the processing and cooking parameters utilized to yield a formulated fried egg. A need exists to develop a formulated fried egg that is more appealing in appearance and taste and that is susceptible to freezing and reheating using conventional or microwave heating prior to consumption.
In the past, the freezing and/or extended refrigeration of a formulated fried egg has led to a loss of a cohesive texture and degradation of other sensory attributes such as mouth feel, taste, elasticity, and/or the food product not being tender or appealing to an individual. Another common problem encountered during delayed consumption, extended refrigeration and/or freezing of a formulated fried egg is that the food product exhibits syneresis, or the loss of water, either when frozen and reheated, or when stored for an extended period of time.
In the past, temperature variations during the cooking procedure for formulated fried eggs have caused a degradation of viscosity, loss of elasticity, and have resulted in a non-smooth, non-cohesive texture. In addition, temperature variations have caused the formulated fried egg to lack the tenderness of a naturally fried egg, and to fail to easily fracture and break during attempts to rupture the egg yolk portion. The cooking of the formulated fried egg at an elevated temperature, to minimize the duration of the cooking time, frequently results in burning and degradation of the texture of the formulated fried egg. Also, during rapid cooking a formulated fried egg easily dehydrates and forms a crust that is unappealing to an individual.
The rate of cooking of the formulated fried egg and the temperature of the oven or other cooking device, also frequently cause the formation of an excessive volume of air bubbles, which, in turn, interrupt the structure and texture of the formulated fried egg. The absence of a smooth cohesive texture causes an undesirable mouth feel when consumed by an individual. The existence of undesirable and/or excessive air bubbles may also occur when the pH of the formulated fried egg is at an improper level, preventing the egg white from retaining carbon dioxide as carbonic acid. The reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide and/or carbonic acid causes the mixing and/or shearing of the egg white during processing due to undesirable gas entrapment.
In the past, the cooking of formulated fried eggs has frequently caused an iron-sulfide greening reaction resulting in undesirable coloration and degradation in the taste of the egg product.
It is also desirable to provide a formulated fried egg that is natural in appearance. In the past, formulated fried eggs have been symmetrical, with the egg yolk portion centrally positioned within a substantially round egg white portion. These types of formulated fried eggs do not appear to be natural. Natural fried eggs have random yolk positioning and non-symmetrical egg white portions.
The known formulated fried egg processing techniques frequently cause freezing and/or thawing damage to the product and fail to retain the egg yolk portions in a semi-liquid state after freezing and subsequent thawing and heating. As a result, the egg yolk portions of the known formulated fried eggs do not readily fracture, do not feature a semi-liquid state, and do not have the desired elastic texture.